Best Supporting Actresses - 2007-2016 Quiz

Answer: Tilda Swinton

"Michael Clayton" is a very topical drama about a corporate "fixer", i.e., an attorney hired to cover up potential scandals and protect the reputation of large firms. In this case, there is a three billion dollar class action law suit which Clayton (George Clooney) is brought in to help defeat. Tilda Swinton won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for portraying Karen Crowder who is on the board of the firm.

Answer: Penelope Cruz

Woody Allen's movie "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is about two women, Vicky and Cristina, on vacation in Spain. They both fall for the seductive artist, Juan Antonio, who is played by Javier Bardem. They learn that Juan is divorced from his fellow artist, the fiery Maria Elena, but she is about to re-enter all their lives. Penelope Cruz won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Maria.
As an aside, two years later, Cruz and Bardem were married.

Answer: Mo'Nique

Actress Mo'Nique was born in 1967, with the name Monique Angela Hicks. She first came to fame as Nikki Parker on the TV sitcom "The Parkers". In 2009 she appeared in Lee Daniels' film "Precious", a story about Harlem teenager Clareece Jones, an illiterate, obese, pregnant, Black sixteen year old. Clareece lives with her mother, Mary, who stays at home watching TV, chain-smoking and collecting welfare. Mo'Nique won the Best Supporting Actress Award for playing this horrible, hateful character.

Answer: Melissa Leo

"The Fighter" focuses on the early days of real life professional boxer Micky Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg. It also features Christian Bale as Micky's older half-brother, Dicky Eklund, who helped Micky train. It depicts the peaks and valleys of Micky's life, on his way to becoming the World's Light Welterweight Champion. Melissa Leo won her Oscar for playing Alice Ward, mother of Micky and Dicky, who manages Micky on his quest to be the best and win the title.

Answer: Octavia Spencer

Based in Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel, "The Help" takes place in Mississippi in the early 1960s. Southern 'society girl' Skeeter returns from college with the goal of becoming a writer. As a theme, she chooses to interview the Black "help" ("Negroes") who serve as maids and housekeepers for rich, white Southern families.

At first, due to fear and mistrust, no one will come forward until, one by one, the women begin to tell their stories of hardship and abuse, including Minny Jackson and her famous "pies". Octavia Spencer won an Oscar for her brilliant portrayal of Minny.

Answer: Anne Hathaway

The musical drama, "Les Miserables", is based on Victor Hugo's novel published in 1862. Jean Valjean, the protagonist, has been in prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. After his release, he breaks parole and is unmercifully hounded by Javert.

In the meantime, he establishes himself as a factory owner and mayor of a small town. He meets up with Fantine, one of the workers in his factory, and finds out about her life, her hardships and her illegitimate daughter, Cosette. The role of Fantine was played by Anne Hathaway, and earned her an Academy Award.

Answer: Lupito Nyong'o

Director Steve McQueen gives us the pre-Civil War story of Solomon Northrup, a free Black man from upstate New York who is abducted and sold into slavery in the South. Based on a true story, "12 Years a Slave" details the cruelty and kindness experienced by Northrup, and his fight not only for survival but to retain his self-respect. Lupita Nyong'o plays Patsey, a slave who works for the brutal "Maasa and Mistress Epps", and must continually fight for simple, human dignity.

Her poignant portrayal garnered her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Answer: Patricia Arquette

The film "Boyhood" was filmed with the same cast over a twelve year period. How remarkable is that?! It begins with the story of six year old Mason, who lives with his older sister and his mother in a small town in Texas. We watch Mason (played by Ellar Coltrane) literally grow up before our eyes. From pre-teen through adolescence, we see family dinners, vacations, birthdays and graduations, all set to a soundtrack that changes with the years. Oscar winner Patricia Arquette plays Mason's divorced mother as she, too, grows with the years.

Answer: Alicia Vikander

"The Danish Girl" is set in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1926, where we find happily married artists, Einar and Gerda Wegener. One day, when Gerda's model fails to show up, Einar poses for a portrait of Gerda's, in a dress. He again cross-dresses later for a party, and begins to discover his sexual identity as a woman, i.e., Lili Elbe. Loosely based on the real life of Einar/Lili and Gerda, Einar became the first "transgender pioneer". Alicia Vikander won a Best Supporting Actress Award for playing Gerda, Einar's wife and Lili's supporter.

Answer: Viola Davis

Based on August Wilson's 1985 play, "Fences" was part of Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". Set in the 1950s, the story is about Troy Maxon, a working-class, middle-aged, Black father raising his family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Troy goes from an athlete with aspirations of becoming a profession baseball player, to his incarceration, to his job as a sanitation worker and his role as a husband and father. Viola Davis, one of the most versatile actresses around, plays Troy's put-upon, faithful wife, Rose. Davis' portrayal won her the Oscar.